Quote:
Originally Posted by lagtight
I probably agree with you. What do you mean by "freedom from religion?" If you simply mean that nobody can force you to join their religion or force you to follow their rules or practices, then I agree with your statement.
Yes, that is what I mean. I am perfectly happy living side-by-side with religious adherents. I have three siblings who are believers (of differing degrees and interpretations) and two other siblings who, like me, are non-believers. I don't try to persuade my believing sibs to come to the "dark side"
.
What I do have a problem with is when religious people want to enact laws based on their beliefs which I am expected to abide by. Religion and belief in god has no place in our collective society or government. It is, and should remain, a personal thing.
Also, I find it irritating when people who know my stance on this insist on invoking god or prayer to me. I am expected to respect their belief (and I do), but they don't seem to respect my non-belief.
For example, when I was flying it was our custom to say good by to passengers as they deplaned. Quite often I'd have a passenger say "God bless you" or "Have a blessed day" to me as they exited. I have no problem with that. They aren't trying to tweak me and I accept their well-meant words with a smile and even a "thank you." But my older brother knows where I stand and still often mentions god or prayer to me. I have always just let it go. But on August 3rd he put out this group text to me and my siblings:
"It's been one year since Pop left us. Think of him and Mom in your prayers today. God bless us all."
Sure, it's a harmless sentiment but he knows full well that I'm not a believer and I responded (to all):
"As you know, I don't believe in God and therefore I don't pray. But I do think of them both often and fondly."
One of my younger brothers, also a believer, was outraged by my response and thought I owed my older brother an apology. I respectfully disagreed. My feeling is that I was just addressing his passive aggressiveness. My other 3 sibs (two sisters and a brother) let me know privately that they liked my response.